How To Choose Your Web Host

 Ask any Internet entrepreneur what the most important
decision they had to make for their Web site was, and
chances are pretty good they'll say:

"choosing my Web host".

Here are the most important things you need to ask your
potential Web host before you part with your hard earned
cash.

1. "How long have you been in business?"

Very important, as Web hosting is a business that requires a
lot of technical experience. It is very high tech, and a new
company might not have had the time to get accustomed to all
the many different technologies you'll be using for your Web
site.

2. "Who are your customers?"

Are their current customers serious business people or just
hobby Webmasters with personal homepages? Ask for some URLs
of serious ecommerce sites that they host.

3. "Do you provide live 24x7x365 support?"

You will definitely require support from your Web host from
time to time. Questions will arise that you'll need answers
to. Sometimes you'll need these answers as soon as possible,
or even immediately. A good Web host must have 24 hour
support staff available on hand to take your emails and
calls. Your emails should be responded to within 1-2 hours
max.

4. "Do you guarantee 99% uptime?"

No matter how good a Web host, your site will be unavailable
for short periods of times due to routine maintenance work.
The best Web hosts however offer a money back guarantee in
case your Web site isn't up 99% of the time (over the period
of one year usually).

5. "What kind of Internet connection do you have?"

You need a fast connection from your Web site to the
Internet. The fastest connections are leased lines (includes
T-1, T-3, OC-3 and DS-3). You should be looking for a Web
host with leased lines. No leased lines? Simply look for
another Web host.

6. "What features do you offer?"

You MUST be provided with a CGI directory for your scripts.
Also, PHP capability is becoming more and more important. Of
course, you want the obvious features such as POP email
accounts, email aliases, autoresponders (very important) and
access to log files. For a full list of features you should
demand from your Web host, click on the link below:

http://www.all-about-making-money-online.com/choosinghost/

7. "How much data transfer am I allowed per month?"

Unless you're going to purchase a dedicated server, you'll
be limited to the amount of traffic you can drive to your
Web site per month. Don't worry however, as you'll be
offered more than enough transfer for a small-medium site.
And if you get so much traffic that you exceed the transfer
quota, well then that's a good thing! For it means you can
make more money, and so can afford to upgrade to a more
powerful server. A quota of 3GB of monthly transfer should
be enough to begin with.

Note that I haven't mentioned price anywhere above. This is
because:

ONE: You'll find prices published on the sites of Web hosts.
No need to ask for them.

TWO: Good Web hosts are more expensive. You get what you pay
for when it comes to Web hosting. A basic package of around
$30 per month is a good price for a good host.

About the Author

Said Rouhani is the owner of
All-About-Making-Money-Online.com. Visit now to learn how to
set up your own profitable Web site from scratch - honest
and revealing info available to you for FREE:
http://www.all-about-making-money-online.com/

 Said Rouhani

More Articles 

40,000 new blogs are started daily - how your web hosting business can cash in - Lois S
The fact that an estimated 40,000 new blogs are being started daily should be of great interest to anybody already in the web hosting business or intending to go into it. Especially those planning to go into the business as affiliates or as...

Website hosting in the UK - Stephen Hill
Once you have a website you then need to think about hosting your site. There are many hosting companies offering different fees, therefore it can be quite difficult in finding the best deal. There are many avenues to explore to find this best...

Is Your Web Site Held Hostage By Service Providers? - Shaun Fawcett
Do you use third-party services to track the links on your Web site? What about for processing your online credit card payments? If so, you are probably losing sales that you don't even know about. Sorry, but it's a fact. Third-Party Services...

What you should know about your web host. - Raamakant S
Yesterday I received a nice email in my inbox, I read that short and interesting email, it was like 5 to 6 lines max, at the end was a link which I was asked to click on. I did exactly that. I wait for about 1 minute but no page downloaded. I...

How to Find a Dependable Web Host - Lois S
Your new website is ready to upload, and now you need a web host. Or perhaps you already have a web host, but uptime and support are lacking. Of the thousands of web hosts to choose from, how do you find one that you can depend on? Know what can...

Get Paid to "Surf the Web" Programs - Are They Legit? - Kay LaRocca
Get Paid to "Surf the Web" Programs - Are They Legit? by Kay LaRocca There are many programs on the world wide web where companies will pay you to surf the web, or, basically view their advertisements. I've done my research and the best...

How To Find A Profitable Web Hosting Niche - Lois S
With the rapidly increasing competition amongst web hosting businesses, it is important to identify potentially profitable niches on which to base your business on. This will dramatically increase your chances of success because once you have...

Free or paid web hosting? - Petr Sejba
Just finished your first website? So it's the time to look for some hosting and make a choise. Your first qustion probably will be whether to choose free or paid hosting service. Let's have a look at some advantages and disadvantages of these...

Customer Excellence Returns to Web Site Hosting! - Robin Nobles
For those of you with Web sites, you probably know what a "host" is. It's a company that provides a location, or address, on the Internet where your Web site resides. In other words, just like a physical business needs an address, so does a...

Unique Features that leading Web Hosts Are Now Offering - Lois S
Some web hosts are offering more than others for the same price or even for a lower price. There is no denying the fact that as competition increases amongst web hosting services, many are looking for ways and means to stand out and be different...

Business Web Hosting: Which is Right for You? - Joe Duchesne
Business web hosting is what you need. You have a website you need to put online. When you look around on the internet, there are thousands of choices. How do you choose the right web hosting package for your business? Reliable web hosting ...

How Can I Get The Web Host Services And Support I Need, Hassle-free? - Kevin Taylor
Choosing a host or switching hosts can be an agonizing experience. There are so many choices and price structures. You see the service level guarantees you want, but there is no way to ensure the Host's promised service level will be kept. Sadly,...